Forget Donald Trump, the winner of last night's Republican presidential debate may well have been "the British guy".

The debate failed to produce a clear victor among the eight candidates in a race so underwhelming it has propelled Dr Ben Carson, who is a Creationist, and Trump, who used to host 'The Apprentice', as leading outsiders.

So a star was born in the form of 53-year-old Gerard Baker, editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal and moderator, whose nationality and accent was a source of joy and irritation to Americans tweeting the debate.

His most memorable moment was perhaps when he did not appear to hear the music that announced a commercial break, and instead pressed ahead with more questions for candidate Rand Paul, who answered the question while the music continued.

Baker may have been the winner but Trump, the most colourful candidate in the field, suffered a setback when he drew jeers from the crowd for tried to shut down businesswoman Carly Fiorina, one of the lower-polling candidates.

In a debate full of interruptions, he said: "Why does she keep interrupting everybody?"